Fat Grafting

Fat Grafting

At FBW, we’re helping women re-purpose unwanted body fat to re-contour their breasts, buttocks, face, and even their genital area. This modern technology allows our medical and aesthetic technicians to achieve beautiful and natural-looking results with fewer risks than surgery.

Fat grafting, also known as fat transfer, is a new and different approach to refine your contours. As we age, the dermis (the layer of skin under the epidermis) thins out, leaving a woman’s face looking thin and hollow, appearing to sag even when it doesn’t.

As we understand the ageing process better, we come to appreciate that in some patients, rather than dissecting tissues and surgically lifting, adding soft tissue volume such as fat will make the face look younger. At FBW, we rejuvenate the face by injecting fat under the skin. This has the effect of filling out the face to make it look more youthful by correcting:

Fine lines

Wrinkles

Crow’s feet

Under-eye bags and hollows

Dark circles

Forehead worry lines

Frown lines

Sunken cheeks

How fat grafting can rejuvenate a woman’s genitals

Facial skin is not the only skin to age and lose volume over time. As women age, they lose fatty tissue from the face and breasts, and from the pubic area as well. Living as we do, in a time when women routinely shave and wax their vaginal area, the wrinkling and skin laxity they encounter can make them feel unattractive or self-conscious.

Equally troubling is the fact that this loss of fat manifests in a sagging of the outer lips (labia majora) and mons pubis of the vagina. The loss of natural padding along the pubic bone can even turn sexual activities from pleasurable to painful.

FBW offers a range of solutions for genital enhancement, including cosmetic injectables. For women who are looking for a more permanent solution, however, we recommend fat grafting. This treatment involves removing fat cells from the lower abdomen, hips, or lower back and injecting the skin of the mons pubis and labia majora. The fat fills the pelvic triangle, giving it a softer and more youthful appearance.

Fat grafting vs injectables

As a femme-focused practice, we believe that fat grafting is particularly well suited to the needs of our female clientele. Fat grafting has shown promising results in the rejuvenation of skin in many other areas of the body, such as the face, buttocks, and breasts. Because the properties of facial and breast tissue are similar to the external genitalia, our meticulously trained women’s health experts believe that fat grafting can be an effective and long-lasting treatment for rejuvenation of the external genitalia and surrounding areas.

Stem cells are an important part of maintenance and repair of the human body, keeping tissues alive and healthy. Research has shown that adipose (fat) tissue is a rich source of stem cells that can be applied to different areas of the body and act to rejuvenate the dermis.

After removing adipose tissue through liposuction, the harvested fat can then be applied to the external and internal genitalia. The fact that it can help with internal genital rejuvenation is a real breakthrough, as other methods are focused almost exclusively on external genitalia.

What happens during fat grafting at FBW

During your initial consultation at FBW, our surgical team will review the fat transfer procedure in detail with you. At that time, they will also enquire about your general health, lifestyle, and any prior surgeries you may have undergone.

It takes training and experience to perform a fat transfer, and the team at FBW are experts. Depending on a patient’s preference, a fat graft can be performed under local or IV sedation anaesthesia. Using liposuction to harvest fat, a member of our medical team removes cells from a donor site on the hip, inner or outer thigh, lower back, or lower abdomen. That’s the first step. The fat is then processed in a special centrifuge. Finally, it is injected into the treatment area, called the recipient site.

At FBW, when our experts perform this complex and delicate procedure, their skill means that a large percentage of the injected fat cells survive the process and become permanent, providing long-lasting rejuvenation to breasts, buttocks, face, and genitals.

What to expect after a fat graft treatment

Almost all patients experience some degree of discomfort and swelling immediately following fat grafting procedures. A prescription for pain medication may be recommended.

It takes up to four days for blood vessels to grow into and begin to “feed” the grafts. Then another two or three days for those new blood vessels to become robust. It takes two to three weeks for the extracellular matrix surrounding the fat graft to reach enough strength to withstand minor stresses.

During this time, to ensure the success of the fat transfer, it is important to avoid stressing the recipient area. We recommend wearing compression garments around the areas where the fat was harvested and also injected. This serves two purposes:

Keeps the tissues snug against the skin

Minimises post-operative swelling

Most of our patients can return to their normal activities within one week, looking and feeling marvellous.

The results of a fat transfer are immediately apparent and will continue to improve over the coming weeks. The effects are generally long lasting, although follow-up treatments may be needed in order to achieve best results.

Possible risks and complications

All surgical and even most non-surgical cosmetic treatments carry some degree of risk. Possible concerns with fat grafting include:

Swelling

Irregular contours or uneven results from liposuction

Hematoma

Skin or fat necrosis

Less than expected results

Asymmetry

The best way to minimise risk is to ensure that the doctors and nurses performing the fat graft are skilled and experienced. At FBW, our doctors and nurses have undergone rigorous training to ensure that each procedure goes smoothly.

Are you a good candidate for fat grafting? Yes!

Good candidates for fat transfer procedures and other aesthetic services we offer at FBW should be in good physical health. If they are smokers, they need to agree to stop smoking one month prior to their procedure, as smoking has a negative effect on circulation and healing.

A good candidate will also have realistic expectations about the outcome of their procedure, from both a physical and emotional standpoint. Finally, patients should be close to their ideal body weight and have an adequate amount of body fat present before the procedure is performed.

If you would like to know more about how fat grafting, stem cell therapy, and other female-focused treatments that can improve your appearance, or if you have any questions related to women’s health and beauty, please call FBW on (08) 8297 2822 or use the contact form on this page.